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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27529501">Daisy Chains</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/oloreaa/pseuds/oloreaa'>oloreaa</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Mandalorian (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, NSFW, Summer Romance, Young!Din, rated mature to be safe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-08 06:28:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,264</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27529501</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/oloreaa/pseuds/oloreaa</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>You fall in love with Din in the summer before he swears his creed.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Din Djarin/Reader, Din Djarin/You, Din Djarin/fem!Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>171</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Warnings: slightly nsfw, non descriptive sex, yes I used those gifs of young Pedro to fuel this, so expect shaggy haired puppy eyed Din who is cocky af</p><p>Notes: I wrote this in a span of 5h because my brain could not stop working, also I took some liberties with canon: Mandalorian's come of age when they're 21 in this fic, due to the severity of the creed/ the restrictions that come with it. So Reader is about 19/20 while Din is 20 :)</p><p>And I've finally got to post it here instead of tumblr only, enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first time you saw him, he was wearing a scowl, staring after the Mandalorian warrior who had given him a slap on the back of the head.</p><p>
You could not help your giggle, turning away so you could laugh at the grumpy expression on his face. When you looked back, though, his gaze was on you.
Immediately straightening, you sent him the most innocent smile you could muster. He raised an eyebrow at you, and made his way over to your stall that was filled with flowers in both pots and buckets, ready to be arranged in various possibilities.</p><p>
"You see something funny?" he asked, shaking the slightly shaggy hair out of his face. Your eyes widened as you took him in, and you felt your face become hot as you realised that he was handsome as <em>hell</em>. Dark brown hair that was a tad too long, a sharp face with high cheekbones, a jawline to die for, dark eyes you could lose yourself in. Not to mention his voice, like honey wrapped around every vowel and consonant, pleasant to listen to and you would do <em>anything</em> to keep him talking.</p><p>
"No, sir," you said, and they were the only words you could manage, "nothing funny at all."</p><p>
The corner of his mouth quirked up, and you could not help but be charmed by those looks, the instant way he had drawn you in, the sharp glint in his eyes. "Is that so, flower girl?"</p><p>
You felt your heart flutter in your chest, and bit your lip playfully, suddenly feeling very bold. "Yes," you breathed, tilting your face up playfully.</p><p>
He scoffed slightly, and put his hands on his hips, resting his weight on one leg. You could place him as maybe one year older than you, two if you had to squint. "Girls like you should know when to keep their eyes away," he said.</p><p>
You leaned against the counter, smiling brightly, overwhelmed by the urge to get to know him better. "The way I see it, I was just observing a spectacle."</p><p>
"Uh huh?"</p><p>
"What are you doing with the Mandalorians, anyways?" You asked, looking at him. Wearing something that approximated armour, a durasteel plate on his torso and some thigh plates, and a vambrace, he seemed better armed than most of the visitors of the market here.</p><p>
"I'm one of them," he answered, puffing his chest out, raising his chin.</p><p>
"You're not wearing a helmet," you observed, and you could not help the coy smile that crept onto your face.</p><p>
"I'll swear the creed soon," he said, clenching his jaw and revealing a twitch in his cheek that almost made you swoon.</p><p>
"Oh dear, that's a shame," you said, plucking a daisy from the flower pot you were selling.
"Why?" His face was set into a frown, brows pulled together, and it was honestly unfair that he was so good looking even while doing that.
"Face like yours, under a helmet? A damn shame."
His eyes widened, and he stared at you, and with delight you could see his cheeks darkening some. He opened his mouth several times as if wanting to say something, but nothing came out. You reached over the counter, and gave him the daisy, which he accepted without taking his eyes off you.
"If you care for dancing, come and find me," you invited, and with a shy smile, you told him your name.
When he repeated it, dark eyes locked onto yours intensely, you swore you just melted a bit.</p><p>
~</p><p>
You did not see him for the next week, which was fine. To be honest with yourself, you did not even expect for him to remember you. The way you saw it, it was just a small interaction with a cute guy, some butterflies in your belly and a crush to think back on in the middle of the night. It did not matter that he probably forgot you. If you gave yourself enough time, you might have completely forgotten him, too. But apparently, the universe had other ideas.</p><p>
"Flower girl," someone called from behind, "Do you need help?"</p><p>
You looked up from the ground, teeth gritted together in effort from the heavy bag of soil you were carrying. When you caught sight of him, your face lit up.
"Not-A-Mandalorian-Yet!" You called out, putting the bag onto the ground as gently as you could, already moving onto giving him a hug. "Hey, how are you?"</p><p>
He looked at you, startled, and with a hot face you realised you had automatically tried to embrace him like you often did.</p><p>
"I'm good," he said stiffly, and you gave an embarrassed smile, stomach doing somersaults.</p><p>
"Oh, Maker, I'm sorry I assumed," you started to say, hands raised to your mouth, "I do that with my friends, I'm so sorry."</p><p>
He furrowed his brows and gave an equally embarrassed smile back. "It's fine," he said, "I don't mind." Yet clearly he did.</p><p>
You stepped back from him, and bit your bottom lip nervously. "I think I'll get going," you said, fidgeting like an absolute moron and cursing yourself. He jerked into motion.</p><p>
"No, I'll- Let me help you with the bag," he said, and if you had not been too occupied with how hot your face felt at the moment, you might have noticed how he was blushing as well.</p><p>
"That's nice of you," you managed to say, and barely resisted a giggle in both embarrassment and delight when he picked the bag up with no difficulty, putting it smoothly under one arm, before turning towards you and giving you a slightly crooked smile. "Where to?"</p><p>
You blinked at him, a big smile on your face. "Thank you," you told him, and started into motion. He easily kept up, but did not initiate conversation like you expected. <em>If he won't talk, I will,</em> you thought, and squared your shoulders in a mini pep boost. "So, Not-A-Mandalorian-Yet," your mouth chose to say, and you inwardly started to cringe at yourself, "Do you have a name that I can call you by?"</p><p>
He hesitated, and looked away while you walked, and your heart sank a bit.</p><p>
"Oh, no- no, it's fine if you don't want to tell me, you don't have to-"</p><p>
"It's Din," he said, "I haven't sworn the creed yet, so you can know my name."</p><p>
You beamed at him, and he shyly returned your smile, his dark eyes intense and burning into you.</p><p>
~</p><p>
The third time you saw Din, he was on a supply run, walking past your stall with a hovering craft filled with crates. Him and three other young armoured humanoids, fellow Mandalorians, if you had to guess, were walking alongside with it. When his gaze met yours, you held up a small bundle of daisy blooms that was in your hand already, and shot him a smile. You were surprised when he smiled back, sending it alongside with a fluttery wink that made your heart skip a beat.</p><p>
~</p><p>
It became a game. Everytime he came to your stand, you instantly perked up, heart beating fast in your chest, a broad smile already greeting him. Whenever you passed each other, you smiled, fleetingly touched each other, found excuses to look into the other's eyes.</p><p>
He started to greet you with "<em>sarad</em>", and while you were pretty sure that he was calling you something like <em>annoying</em> or <em>cheeky</em>, the gentle tone he used and the tender way he would smile at you let you know that this attraction was not as one-sided as you tried to tell yourselves sometimes.</p><p>
And you were pretty sure that Mandalorians do not need to buy flowers as often as Din did.</p><p>
"What does <em>sarad</em> mean?" you asked him once while you finished up a bouquet for another client.
He was quiet, looking at you for a long time, before: "<em>Sarad</em> means flower."
You stared at him, and he visibly blushed even if the rest of his face did not change.
"I like it," you said, a shy smile on your face, "Please don't stop calling me that, all right?"
He smiled brightly at you, his entire face lighting up, and you were pretty sure that if you had not been smitten before, you would have definitely fallen for him in that second.
"Okay," he said.</p><p>
~</p><p>
"Do you want to go dancing?" You asked him when you saw him again, this time alone, "It's the weekend soon and my friends often meet somewhere to dance."</p><p>
He huffed, leaning against the stall, cutting an attractive figure against the bright light of the marketplace. It was a slow day, barely anyone coming to visit in the heat of the midday sun.</p><p>
"Do I look like I dance?" Din asked, giving you a wry look.</p><p>
You bit your lip, feeling your cheeks heat up. "I could teach you," you offered, in a breathier tone than you would have liked. He looked at you, and you could have sworn that his eyes dropped to your lips for a fraction of a second, which made you even bolder, "We could dance alone at first."</p><p>
He stared at you, jaw slightly ticking. "I might have to take you up on that," he said, and <em>oh</em>, when did his voice become so deep?</p><p>
"When do you want to?"</p><p>
His eyes dropped to your lips again, this time for a longer moment, and when he said "Now," in that sinful voice of his, you knew that he was not talking about dancing at all. Risking a look around, seeing the marketplace basically abandoned, most of the other vendors having taken a break, you decided that you could have a bit of fun.</p><p>
"There is a bag of soil in the back, and I might need you to lift it for me," you told him, shooting Din a coy smile that became a full beam when he nodded, a smirk tugging at his lips as well, delightful dimples showing as his eyes crinkled in amusement. He followed you without a word, and before you knew it, you were out of sight of everyone else.</p><p>
"Can I-" you started to say, wanting to ask for his permission first when you turned around and looked at him, but he sneaked a hand behind your head, tilted your face towards him and gave you a chaste kiss on the lips.</p><p>
You looked at him in surprise, mouth open, flush threatening to burn you alive.</p><p>
"I'm sorry," he started to say, blushing furiously, "I've not kissed many people before, was it-"</p><p>
Before he could say anything else, you had both of your hands cradling his face, tugging him closer to your body.</p><p>
"That's all right," you said before kissing him again, this time opening your mouth and tasting him properly, feeling him reciprocate clumsily but with enthusiasm. Your lips parted with a quiet smack, and you stared into his face. His eyes were hooded and fixed onto you like he was a hunter and you were prey, a blush high on his cheeks, his lips slightly pinker than before.</p><p>
"I'll teach you," you whispered, before kissing him again, tugging him even closer.</p><p>
~</p><p>
After that, his visits became more frequent.</p><p>
~</p><p>
"My <em>alor'ad</em> does not approve of this," Din said to you after a few more times you crossed each other's paths.</p><p>
You had shown him the meadow you often went to, reading there most of the time, a small place not many people would find. The both of you were sitting in the tall grass, your fingers working on making a flower crown for Din. He did not know it was for him, yet, and he was holding his face into the sun, eyes closed as he soaked in the warmth of the summer. 
You hummed, and linked your fingers into his, giving him a cheeky smile.
"My mother would not approve as well," you told him, using a long piece of grass to tie off the crown, "Always says something about finding a husband first. Would probably marry me off to the first Imperial officer she could find, to keep me out of trouble."</p><p>
He opened one eye, looking at you with a smirk.</p><p>
"You? A trophy wife for some cog head?"
"I would make an <em>amazing</em> trophy wife, thank you very much."
The young man turned onto his side, propping his head up with his hand, giving you a cocky grin.
"That you would," he said, gaze trailing along your figure, and you felt desire building in you at the heat in his eyes.</p><p>
"Here, for you," you said to diffuse the tension crackling between the both of you, and presented him the wildflower crown.</p><p>
Din stared at you in bewilderment, and you could not help your laugh at the offended look in his eyes.</p><p>
"I'm not wearing that," he said, with a small scowl. You walked on your knees towards him, a smile threatening to split your face, and crowned him.</p><p>
"I declare you king of the meadow," you said as dramatically as possible, before dissolving in a fit of giggles. You could see that he was still embarrassed, but he was grinning as well.</p><p>
"I'm training to become a Mandalorian," he told you, face becoming very serious, raising his eyebrows at you and tilting his chin towards his chest, his dark eyes making you feel all sorts of butterflies, "I am very dangerous and can kill you with no hesitation."</p><p>
You nodded, a mocking expression on your face, knowing deep inside that he would never harm you without reason. "That's hot." He snorted in surprise, a loud laugh ringing through the meadow.</p><p>
"I can take out a stormtrooper within twenty seconds."</p><p>
You giggled, slapping his chest slightly. "So could a very determined duck. Or a <em>Gungan!</em>" He attacked you, tickling fingers trailing along your side, making you shriek as you tried to get away from him.</p><p>
"Take that back," Din demanded, a playful smile on his face.
"Okay, okay!" You laughed, squirming under his touch, "You're a mighty warrior."
He nodded, and raised his eyebrows at you expectantly.</p><p>
"Din, are you fishing for compliments?"</p><p>
He winked at you. "I might be." You pushed at his shoulder, chuckling to yourself, before you started off.</p><p>
"You can take on four men at once."</p><p>
He furrowed his brows and nodded thoughtfully, lips pursed, "I like those odds."</p><p>
"You can use those badass jetpacks." You pressed a small kiss onto his knuckles, desperately trying not to laugh when his gaze became self-satisfied.</p><p>
"Training in the Rising Phoenix, <em>sarad</em>, don't you forget that."</p><p>
"You can roundhouse kick a blurrg!" Dissolving into giggles, you pressed your face into his chest, feeling it rumble with laughter as well. The both of you cackled for several minutes straight, everytime you caught each other's gazes, starting to laugh again. It took too long until you could breathe normally again.</p><p>
"Haven't tried that yet," Din said, making you giggle.</p><p>
"You're a <em>mighty warrior</em>, we all know that, no need to brag."</p><p>
He smirked at you, the corner of his mouth twitching up. "But you know that it's not bragging if you can actually do it."</p><p>
"I'm sure you can," you snorted, "But even warriors can wear flower crowns."</p><p>
Din scoffed, a big grin on his face. "Is that so?" He tried to take the crown off, but you pushed it deeper onto his head, flattening his shaggy hair against his forehead. He tried again, crunching his nose at you, a playful smile on his face, but you resisted his charm to the best of your abilities. He quickly grabbed your shoulder and flipped you around, making you shriek with laughter as he pinned you onto the ground.</p><p>
"Stop that," he said, and you could feel his belly twitch against you as he suppressed his laughter, "I'm very dangerous and I have a reputation to uphold."</p><p>
"Of course, Din," you said, smiling up at him, his head eclipsing the sun in your view. Tugging at his hair, he pulled the crown down and set it onto your head.</p><p>
"It suits you better," he said in a rough voice, and before you know it, he was devouring you in a searing kiss that made your toes curl, a hand on your cheek, tilting your face up to him for better access.</p><p>
When he groaned your name into your mouth, you almost came on the spot.</p><p>
~</p><p>
You had told him to come to the meadow tonight, and you were excited beyond compare. As soon as you saw his familiar frame, tall and lanky but with deliciously broad shoulders, you made your way through the high grass, a basket in your hands.</p><p>
"I brought food," you told him shyly, before spreading a picnic blanket onto the ground, flattening it carefully.
He dropped to his knees, and helped to make it more even, then put the basket right on the side so one corner would be secured by the weight.
You both took your shoes off, and after a bit of light conversation and nibbling at the various fruits you had packed, relaxed into each other.</p><p>
"You know I can't do this for long, right?" Din asked, slowly tracing the side of your face with a gentle finger, his head propped up by his hand as you lay side by side under the guise of watching the stars.</p><p>
You turned your head to him, and stared into his face.</p><p>
"How long do we have?" you asked him, voice quiet and very small.</p><p>
"Two months," he said, voice rough.</p><p>
To avoid having to answer to that, you kissed him desperately, rolling on top of him, bodies flush together as you straddled his lap, feeling proof of his desire against you. Kissing your way down his neck, you were careful not to leave any marks that Din could be punished for, should the Mandalorians see them. His hands were on you, kneading your sides, pulling you close.</p><p>
He sat up quickly, and took off his shirt, and with pooling desire you absorbed the sight of his toned upper body, some scars curling around his arms and one slash across his abs.</p><p>
He was beautiful. And you told him that as well, watching him blush, gaze darkening.</p><p>
When you looked him into the eyes in the dim starlight, he gave you a slightly nervous but determined smile. You quickly resolved to kiss every single one of the scars he might possess, leaving a trail of wet kisses on his chest, then his stomach, and then lower.</p><p>
He gasped when you wrapped your lips around him, his fingers tightening in your hair.</p><p>
~</p><p>
It was sufficient to say that while his visits were frequent before, now they were a nightly occurrence.</p><p>
~</p><p>
You could not always finish your explorations of each other, sometimes your commlink blinked and your mother demanded to know where you are, but most of the time it was Din's, the covert sending out messages to several of their trainees, having them run errands. But despite all of that, you learned each other's bodies quite well anyways. Using every moment you had together, touching the other one, feeling your skin against each other, the evidence for your desire never failed to make the other one dizzy.</p><p>
You learned a lot about Din during those stolen nights, and days, and little breaks whenever you could manage to sneak away.</p><p>
He was just as enthusiastic kissing you on the mouth as everywhere else, which you <em>loved.</em> It was almost as if he was trying to absorb as much of your touch as possible, probably stocking up on touch before he will swear the creed in a few weeks.</p><p>
As much as you wished that he would choose you over his tribe, you know he would not. It was too important to him.</p><p>
So you took everything he had to offer you now, and made the best of it.</p><p>
You made love under the stars so many times you had lost count, hiding a smile every time you felt the dull ache he left behind, and with Din's passion, you had never been so grateful before that you had the implant.</p><p>
And it was so unfair, as well, for he had the face of an angel but his voice was <em>sinful</em>, making your head spin in the best of ways. Letting him in your life and between your legs was one of the best things that could have happened to you, even though time was working against you.</p><p>
Din always let his mouth run while you were warming his ears with your thighs, while he was deep inside you, murmuring against your neck, while his fingers were buried in you, or in your hair as you looked up into his dark eyes, winking as you swirled your tongue around him.</p><p>
He never seemed to be able to shut up while you were around him, on him, under him, and it was as if he tried to make up for lost time already.</p><p>
You pretended that you do not cry yourself to sleep because of his creed sometimes.</p><p>
~</p><p>
"I'll be of age in the fall," he told you again when you were hiding in the back of the stall on another slow day with almost no customers. You were on his lap, both of you with flushed faces and heaving chests after you spend several minutes simply making out, hearts fluttering fast in your chests. "I can't stay for long."</p><p>
Even as your heart broke at hearing that, you decided that, once again, it was a problem for future-you.</p><p>
"Then we'll make the best of it," you said before capturing his lips again, making him groan deep in his throat.</p><p>
"You're so pretty," he whispered, his big hands resting on your waist, pulling your bodies close together, his dark eyes burning into you, the shaggy fringe falling into his eyes softening his face, "So, <em>so</em> pretty."</p><p>
"Even when I'm making you flower crowns?" you teased.</p><p>
"Especially when you're doing that," he whispered, and you pushed his fringe away from his face, pressing a kiss to his forehead.</p><p>
"Din," you murmured his name, looking at him tenderly.</p><p>
"You've wrapped me up in your daisy chains, <em>sarad</em>."</p><p>
Heart clenching at the genuine affection in his voice, you kissed him to shut him up, feeling him smile against you, knowing that your days together were coming to an end.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>You spend even more time together. Din makes his choice.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello! I hope people see this lmao, here is part 2!! I hope you enjoy!</p><p>Warnings: nsfw content, oral sex f!receiving, language, angst, fighting and having an argument, yelling at each other, open ending</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You were barely able to suppress your shriek when Din pushed you off the gangplank, right into the ice cold water. The sun was just starting to rise, the both of you meeting before he had to leave for some errand for his tribe that would take a few days.</p><p> 
The both of you did not go out to the lake often, it being a bit further away than your meadow, but for this occasion you thought that it could be something more special.</p><p> 
Until he decided to become an asshole.</p><p> 
His laugh was bright as he watched you spit out the water, glaring at him.</p><p> 
"Come on, <em>sarad</em>," he said."Why that nasty look?"</p><p> 
"Oh, you're impossible," you told him, standing in the waist-deep water with your hands on your hips while he continued to laugh.</p><p> 
You smirked at him as a wicked idea entered your mind. You turned your back to him, pulling off your shirt and tossing it aside. "W-What are you doing?" Din stammered, you could basically hear him blush and it made you grin in satisfaction.</p><p> 
"I'm gonna go swimming, asshole," you teased with a sultry look and started to shimmy your trousers off your legs, exaggerating your motions even though the water was so cold your teeth started to chatter. "Care to join me?"</p><p> 
Sinking down into the water, hiding your body from his hungry gaze, you turned around again, winking at him.</p><p> 
"The water is freezing," Din said, but you could see the indecisiveness in his eyes.</p><p> 
"Is it?"</p><p> 
"You're pulling my dick," he scoffed, "That water is colder than Hoth in winter."</p><p> 
"Get in here and I might do that," you said, delighted that he had served you that line on a silver platter.</p><p> 
He groaned as he realised what he just said before sighing heavily. "<em>Sarad</em>, you're killing me."</p><p> 
You shrugged and smirked at him.</p><p> 
"Get in, sir," you said, batting your lashes at him. "Warm me up, won't you?"</p><p> 
"Tease," he huffed before taking off his shirt, giving you an eyeful of his delightful muscles before taking a run-up and jumping in.</p><p> 
You started laughing before he even hit the surface, clutching at your belly when he emerged with a shout, basically shooting straight out of the water.</p><p> 
"<em>Fucking shit</em>," he cursed, wrapping his arms around himself, giving a full body shudder.</p><p> 
Tears in your eyes, you laughed so much you lost your balance, falling over and shrieking when the cold water engulfed you again. Din was laughing as well, a streak of swears leaving his mouth in between, both of you just laughing at each other.</p><p> 
"You're so dumb," you gasped, still giggling as you got close, and lightly slapped him on the shoulder.</p><p> 
"<em>I'm</em> dumb? Have you seen yourself?"</p><p> 
"You better watch your mouth, mister."</p><p> 
"I'd rather watch you," he said with a suggestive smirk, and you laughed at that, shoving him so hard he lost his balance and fell back into the water.</p><p> 
Watching him emerge with wet hair streaking across his forehead, eyes scrunched close, you could not stop giggling when he wiped the water out of his eyes, blinking up at you.</p><p> 
"<em>Sarad</em>, you're literally the worst, do you know that? Din asked, shivering dramatically, pushing the wet fringe out of his face.</p><p> 
"What'cha gonna do about that, though?"</p><p> 
You got close, and draped yourself around him, enjoying the way your bodies slid against each other in the water, climbing onto his back. He shimmied under you and threw you in the lake again, the splash loud.</p><p> 
"Don't even try," Din said, stretching his arms to keep you at arm's length, and you could see the goosebumps on his skin, spread across the chest. "I'm stronger than you."</p><p> 
"Yes, <em>sir</em>," you crooned, batting your eyelashes at him as you tried to get around and climb onto him again. He laughed as he splashed water at you, a carefree smile on his face. "Come on, let me on!"</p><p> 
"Not a chance."</p><p> 
You pouted and crossed your arms across your chest, giving him puppy eyes.</p><p> 
"<em>Sarad</em>, that doesn't work on me." His grin was triumphant, his eyes sparkling with the rising sun.</p><p> 
"But it's cold," you complained, and moved closer, holding up your palms to indicate that you had no ill intentions, "And you're warm."</p><p> 
"Not anymore, thanks to you," he snorted.</p><p> 
But he let you get close, wrap your arms around him, and his hands smoothed over your hips, tugging you flush to his body.</p><p> 
"Din, warm me up?" You asked, blinking at him innocently, intentionally pressing your breasts against his chest to give him a rather tempting view should he choose to look down. "Please?"</p><p> 
He gave a low groan as he dropped his gaze, eyes darkening, and that familiar look made you bite your lip in anticipation.</p><p> 
"<em>Sarad</em>, it's freezing," he said, pulling you even closer, the goosebumps on both of your skins rubbing rough against each other.</p><p> 
"I think it's just the right temperature," you said, and had it not been for your chattering teeth the line would have been delivered perfectly.</p><p> 
"Bantha shit," Din scoffed, starting to move towards the gangplank. With an arm around your waist, he tugged you alongside with him while your heart beat fast in excitement at being so close to him, his presence just as intoxicating now as it was the first time you were near him.</p><p> 
He pushed himself up on the gangplank, giving you an eyeful of his back as the water ran down his lean muscles. He turned around and gave you a hand, pulling you up as well. Your knees knocked painfully against the wood, but you did not really care other than making a half-hearted "<em>ow</em>" which made him roll his eyes. With a giggle, you patted his biceps approvingly and he responded with a half cocky, half shy smile, pushing your body against his as you both shivered against each other.</p><p> 
"<em>Sarad</em>," he whispered against you, "let's get warmed up, okay?"</p><p> 
"And what do you propose?" You asked with a coquettish tone, tilting your jaw up. He huffed, and you could feel his smile just from the way he held himself. A hand cupped your cheek, and he tilted your head up lightly.</p><p> 
"Something like this," Din said before he slotted his mouth over yours and trapped your bottom lip between his teeth, biting down gently.</p><p> 
<em>I think I love you</em>, you thought as the sunrise illuminated his golden skin, contrasting perfectly with his dark hair, the pupils in his eyes blown wide as he looked you in the eyes, and the fact that it was you that affected him so much made your head spin.</p><p> 
<em>I think I love you.</em></p><p>~</p><p>"You're gonna see, I'll become a bee farmer in the future," you said, a teasing smile on your face, flush warming your cheeks. "I'll have a big farm with huge fields full of flowers."</p><p> 
The sun was shining down onto you, your eyes were closed, breathing in the sweet smell of the grass and the flowers of your meadow.</p><p> 
Din's head was lying on your stomach, his limbs sprawled out all over, lanky and too long. The sunlight was reflecting off his hair, the ends slightly curling, and your fingers itched  to run through them. You could feel his head tilt towards you, the weight on your stomach shifting, and you heard him scoff affectionately.</p><p> 
"You don't know anything about bee farming," he said, voice amused.</p><p> 
"I can learn!" you protested, half offended but unable to stop the laugh bubbling out of you. "I'll have a magnificent bee farm one day and I'll be able to say into your face: I told you so."</p><p> 
"I believe that you would do it purely out of spite, <em>sarad</em>," Din mumbled, and pressed a kiss to the spot of exposed skin where your shirt had ridden up, "You could do anything you set your mind to."</p><p> 
You were quiet, thinking about the one thing you would not be able to change, and blinked the tears away before he could see them.</p><p> 
"I'm in the mood for a flower crown," you said quickly to hide your wobbly voice. "Would you like to learn?"</p><p> 
"When should I ever need that?" Din asked, brows furrowing, and you smacked his cheek affectionately in response.</p><p> 
"Never underestimate when a skill will come in handy," you scolded, "You can make the day of a child by making them something like that."</p><p> 
"Okay, okay, flower girl," he chuckled, hand reaching up and he traced his thumb across your skin, some random pattern only he would know, which would remain a secret if he does not open his mouth. "You're right."</p><p> 
"I'm always right," you said, a scoff leaving you as you brushed his hair out of his eyes.</p><p> 
He just hummed in response, turned around, and started to kiss your belly, hands pushing up the fabric that covered your torso. Shivering under his little kitten licks, all thoughts of bee farming and making flower crowns disappeared as he moved higher, blazing embers across your skin.</p><p>~</p><p>The day was stretching itself. Not one person had come to your stall in the last few hours, even though the market was buzzing, and had you not been getting paid for this you might have considered to abandon the stand completely. Din had told you that he could not come tonight, something about his tribe having to decide on a vote. Resting your face in your palm as you half heartedly hummed some tune you have heard in passing, you played with the flower pot right in front of you.</p><p> 
With every day you felt more and more drained, wishing that the summer would never end.</p><p> 
It was starting to hurt every time you saw him. You felt like you were crawling over broken glass, ice shards piercing your heart, crushed into millions and billions of little pieces to be strewn across the galaxy. You did not know what would happen to the both of you.</p><p> 
You did not want to know how you will break up.</p><p> 
And it had become a <em>how</em>, not an <em>if</em>, because with every goodbye the<em> if</em> became inevitable and inescapable.</p><p> 
You hated this.</p><p> 
So, <em>so</em> much.</p><p>~</p><p>You were a shuddering mess beneath Din's ministrations, his hands holding your legs apart while he devoured you, your brows furrowed together in ecstasy as he brought you to the edge again.</p><p> 
As you fell apart under his tongue, you could feel him grinning against you, and he had to clear his throat several times before starting to speak again.</p><p> 
"Flower girl, you have another one in you, I know it," he murmured against you, pressing a kiss onto the inside of your thigh, smirking at you when you propped your upper body up to look at him, your entire body feeling like jelly.</p><p> 
"Din," you gasped, certain that he had squeezed every ounce of pleasure out of you already, but when his smile turned positive wicked, your heart skipped a beat. His hair was sticking to his forehead, face flushed, and the hungry look in his eyes made him painfully attractive</p><p> 
"Yeah," he said, licking a stripe up the inside of your thigh while holding eye contact, his grin widening. "Again."</p><p>~</p><p>Every day was like a countdown, an inevitable end to something that was currently the only thing keeping you sane.</p><p> 
You met Din more often, spent more time with him, soaking the view of his face in knowing that you would not see it anymore when those weeks were over.</p><p> 
When you were not together, it felt like the air was ripped out of your body, drowning in a vast ocean with nowhere to go.</p><p> 
It was taking its toll on the both of you.</p><p> 
You started to fight, comparing this to that, picking apart every word that the other said, both desperately clinging to any kind of normalcy while waiting for the other shoe to finally drop.</p><p> 
It was <em>hell</em>.</p><p> 
Every word was like a dagger that dug itself deeper and deeper the longer this went on, slowly ripping both of you into pieces. But your hold on each other tightened even more, bringing the rose thorns so close to your heart they almost pierced it, the vines wrapping around your lungs, suffocating you.</p><p> 
"I don't want to say goodbye," you found yourself whispering to him late at night in your meadow, pushing his shaggy hair out of his face, tracing his nose with a gentle finger, memorizing the shape of his lips, "I don't want this to end."</p><p> 
"Me too," he confessed, his eyes serious, the intensity of them overwhelming. His face was already expressive, every twitch and crinkle and tug of his features a story in the making, but his eyes, <em>oh</em>, his eyes, they were direct reflections of his soul. Never before have you seen anyone with more intense, fiery eyes than his.</p><p> 
And all of this should be hidden behind a helmet? A blank slate, hiding his lovely eyes and nose and smile, flattening those curls against his head, his golden skin covered by coarseweave and durasteel? How in the galaxy did he think that this was something he should do? How did he not know how much the galaxy would miss out on?</p><p> 
How did he not know that he would easily have a life outside the covert, being able to charm himself in and out of every situation, much like he had charmed his place in your heart?</p><p> 
"Don't go, Din," you dared to whisper, feeling your eyes burn with unshed tears as you traced his face gently, "Stay with me."</p><p> 
Din just looked at you, clenched his jaw, and to your shock, extracted himself from your embrace, face as if set in stone. Your mouth was hanging open, unable to believe what was happening.</p><p> 
"I can't," he said, standing up without a goodbye and disappearing into the tree line. You simply stared after him, feeling tears sting but refusing to let them fall. It felt like someone had taken molten metal and poured it over your heart, the tissue burning and being coated in a hard, silver shell, making you numb to everything that was happening.</p><p> 
You lowered yourself back on the grass, feeling the warm spot where he had just been, and stared at the stars, tears blurring the view, heart aching fiercely.</p><p>~ </p><p>Despite those words, he came back the next day.</p><p>And the day after.</p><p>And the day after that.</p><p>And everytime you could not help to wish that it was the last one, just to spare you the pain of having to say goodbye. It was prolonged into something that was more bitter than sweet, and you found yourself starting to resent him.</p><p> 
Resent him for doing this to you.</p><p> 
Resent yourself for <em>letting</em> him.</p><p> 
You felt deep red anger start to rise, condense itself into white hot rage, almost burning blue with how angry you were.</p><p> 
But every time he was in your presence, he was the cool water that brought you back, and wasn't that ironic? That the hot headed, short tempered Din whose touch felt like magma was successful in calming you down, cooling your heated core?</p><p> 
Although, with every day that he came back, acting as if nothing was wrong while it clearly was, the blue flames started to turn into blue ice.</p><p>~</p><p>Soft music was trickling out of the little speaker you had brought, the local radio playing some cheery song with a fast rhythm, syrupy lyrics crooned by a love struck singer.</p><p> 
The sun was starting to set, the golden lights filtering into your meadow, and your breath was quick, eyes were bright as Din spun you around, clumsily still but learning fast.</p><p> 
"Just like that," you encouraged, moving your feet and rolling your hips, feeling the beat in your body and moving instinctively.</p><p> 
For someone so graceful while fighting, dancing was clearly not Din's strong suit. He held himself stiffly, refusing to loosen up his hips. But he had indulged you, especially after you complained that he never took you up on the offer of going dancing together.</p><p> 
So instead of a club, your usual spot had to do, and instead of loud, thrumming basses that made your heart pump fast, it was the tinny sound of the beat up, staticky radio.</p><p> 
Somehow, this was perfect.</p><p> 
Din was smiling, his large hands engulfing yours, he had assumed the position of the leader even though he was more stumbling along than actually doing the leading.</p><p> 
You gestured for him to spin, and he did, but in the wrong direction, making you giggle, which made him pout, but he managed to step into the right rhythm again, so you did not tease him too much.</p><p> 
"You're doing well," you told him, feet moving in tandem to his, "For someone dancing for the first time."</p><p> 
"Our dances are different," Din explained, little concentrated frown between his brows as he looked down, and corrected the steps, "They are... louder, I guess. And more ceremonial. We don't dance much."</p><p> 
"Those armour plates would creak too much," you nodded sagely, which made his face crack into a wide grin, and his fingers shot to your sides, tickling you.</p><p> 
You shrieked his name, and moved away, which quickly turned into a chase, the speaker still playing a song while you two ran around the meadow in circles, laughing and skipping around like children.</p><p>~</p><p>"It's tomorrow," he told you, thumb tracing patterns on your back, you lying on top of him. You jerked up, staring at him with wide eyes, thinking you did not hear right.</p><p> 
He could not have said that.</p><p> 
He <em>couldn't.</em></p><p> 
"What?" You whisper, feeling his words like a punch to your gut, "It was not supposed to be  for another week!"</p><p> 
Panic stabbed at your lungs as you searched his face, heart racing painfully. He avoided your eyes, and took his hands off you, and the way his fingers twitched, his shoulders tensed pointed to him being evidently uncomfortable. You knew him well enough now to know that.</p><p> 
"Din," you said, feeling anger bubbling up, "Did you lie to me?"</p><p> 
He said nothing. You huffed, unbelieving, eyes shooting daggers at him as you pressed a "Did you <em>lie to me</em>?" out of your clenched teeth.</p><p> 
Din's cheek twitches, and he started to say your name, but you cut him off, feeling livid.</p><p> 
"Did you tell me another day so I would, <em>I don't know</em>, not be as mad?"</p><p> 
He sat up, moving away from you, a deep frown on his face, but he said nothing and stared at the ground. He did not meet your gaze, and you wanted to slap him.</p><p> 
"What the hell, Din?" You almost screeched and pushed at his torso roughly, feeling your  anger enveloping your heart, chest feeling as if it was on flames, thorns digging in, pricking at your heart, making you bleed. He did not move an inch, which made you even angrier.</p><p> 
"I didn't want to see you sad," he said, but the argument was so weak you could not help but scoff.</p><p> 
"Oh, and breaking my heart this way is better? I had something <em>planned</em>, asshole-"</p><p> 
"I'm sorry, but this is--" Din pushed back, gritting his teeth, and that was the final straw for you, flinching away from him.</p><p> 
"What is <em>wrong</em> with you?" You yelled, feeling tears burn in your eyes, "What in the world are you thinking? I thought we could be honest with each other, especially about something like <em>this!</em>"</p><p> 
You felt as if your lungs would not expand, that you had stopped breathing, you wanted to scream, to sob, but you could not, you could only stare at him and feel heat in your chest, in your face, head spinning and the world was <em>crushing</em> you.</p><p> 
"I can't choose you over my creed," Din said quietly, his eyes burning as he stared at you, jaw twitching.</p><p> 
"Why not?" You cried, fully knowing that you were being unreasonable, but you were just so <em>angry</em>, so <em>sick</em> of being sidelined, of being not told anything when it was obviously concerning you as well, "Why do you have to choose <em>them</em>?"</p><p> 
"The Mandalorians took me in, they raised me, they gave me meaning in life!" Din shouted, and you flinched back at his loud voice, he had never raised his voice at you before. His eyes were burning straight through you, and you had to swallow the painful lump in your throat, staring at him in disbelief.</p><p> 
<em>Meaning in his life, huh?</em></p><p> 
"And what am I to you, then?" You asked, tears blurring your view of him, "I don't know, a simple summer fuck?" Spitting out the last word as if it was venomous, you could see Din flinch the tiniest bit, his eyes betraying him.</p><p> 
His jaw clenched, and when he squared his shoulders, expression dark, it was the first time you truly were afraid of him.</p><p> 
"You know you're more than that," Din gritted out, anger pouring off him in waves.</p><p> 
Blinking away the tears blurring your vision, feeling them spill over, you backed away from him, heart racing fast and feeling as if it was breaking into two, being ripped apart, so messy, so <em>raw</em> no one would be able to piece it together again.</p><p> 
"I'm afraid that I don't know, Din," you whisper, voice shaky, face wet, "What <em>am</em> I to you?"</p><p> 
He was silent.</p><p> 
You choked down a sob, and repeated your words again, voice so thick and so garbled that you did not know if he understood it.</p><p> 
"<em>Sarad</em>--" Din said after a long pause, where the only sounds between you were the choked down ragged sobs that you were trying to keep quiet, his eyes so intense you had to look away.</p><p> 
"Tell me," you snapped, finally breaking.</p><p> 
"You would have me to choose between <em>you</em>, a distraction, and my entire life?" Din yelled, getting in your face, chest heaving.</p><p> 
Oh.</p><p> 
<em>Oh, that hurt.</em></p><p> 
Apparently that was all you were to him.</p><p> 
<em>A distraction.</em></p><p> 
Never mind everything you had given to this relationship.</p><p> 
Never mind everything you have done this summer.</p><p> 
Never mind how you had revolved your entire life around <em>him</em>, being there for him, almost never at home, neglecting meetings with your friends just because you would be able to spend more time together.</p><p> 
Because you had known from the beginning that your time was limited, you had done everything, <em>anything</em> for him.</p><p> 
Everything, <em>just for him.</em></p><p> 
You stared at Din, paralyzed to the spot. You knew that he would never hurt you physically, but--</p><p> 
<em>This was something entirely different.</em></p><p> 
He seemed to have realised how his words sounded, seemed to pick up how you were backing away, and backtracked instantly, giving you space. He ran one hand roughly through his hair, face scrunched up in frustration, and even though he looked like he always did, his face did not change, you could not recognise him. How was <em>this</em> the sweet boy you had shared your summer with? How was this <em>Din?</em></p><p> 
You felt like you were staring at a stranger, and more tears spilled down your cheeks.</p><p> 
"<em>Sarad</em>--" Din started to say, sounding soft, but you cut him off with a shaky exhale, "Don't call me that."</p><p> 
"Please, I-- I didn't mean it like that."</p><p> 
You stared into his earnest, guilty eyes. Brown, beautiful, expressive eyes. Eyes you had fallen in love with. Tears stung your face, burning away every instance you had ever felt like you meant something to him.</p><p> 
"We both know that it's not true," you managed, voice thick.</p><p> 
It was as if there was a wall slammed up in between you, lovers turned to strangers in a matter of seconds.</p><p> 
"Goodbye," you whispered, feeling your heart break into pieces as many as there are stars in the night sky above you, "I hope you have a good life."</p><p> 
With those words, you turned around, and left, leaving him standing in the middle of your meadow, feeling empty, so, <em>so</em> empty.</p><p>~</p><p>You locked yourself into your room for the next day. You were trying not to think of how he was probably swearing his Creed at the exact moment.</p><p> 
One day turned into two, into three, into a week.</p><p> 
You tried not to shed more tears for him than you already had. You tried to tell yourself that he was not worth it, that he had chosen it himself, that it had been clear from the beginning on that it could not last.</p><p> 
That the two of you could not be.</p><p> 
You spilled to your mother after she nearly broke down your door, telling her everything about Din, about your feelings and his Creed and it ended in you sobbing into her chest, her gently holding you in her arms while she cradled you.</p><p> 
"Oh," she sighed, "If there is one thing I can tell you, it's that people you love in the summer are not the ones that stay through the winter."</p><p> 
"But I love him," you whispered.</p><p> 
Your mother said your name gently but firmly, before sighing once again, "Lovers come and lovers go. Your next whirlwind romance will happen before you know it, and you will forget about this foolish Mandalorian boy."</p><p> 
You did not tell her that she could not be more wrong.</p><p> 
Din was <em>branded</em> into your skin, your heart, every inch of your body. There was no way you could get rid of those scorch marks that were left by trailing fingers and bruising kisses.</p><p> 
He was seared into your very soul.</p><p>~</p><p>You made sure to look the other way or to disappear into the back of your flower stall whenever you spotted someone wearing Mandalorian armour. Every time you saw a tinted T-visor in the characteristic helmet you felt your heart break once again.</p><p> 
And you were pretty sure that the one Mandalorian who appeared quite often, in rust red armour, was him.</p><p> 
You never dared to hope, though.</p><p> 
You did not want to dwell on the <em>what ifs.</em></p><p> 
Even if the way that particular Mandalorian tilted his head, the way he set his shoulders, the way he walked reminded you of him. You did not dare to hope.</p><p> 
You would not do that to yourself again, reminding yourself that even if he was him, he was not your summer lover Din anymore, but the Mandalorian who was devoted to his creed. </p><p>~</p><p>You have taken a new lover, even though sometimes you caught yourself almost saying Din's name instead of theirs.</p><p> 
There were fewer and fewer sightings of Mandalorians as time passed.</p><p> 
There were rumours that they have all been killed by the Empire.</p><p>~</p><p>You did not look for him. He most likely was dead and gone. And even if he was still alive, he never came back. Never let you know if he was still alive.</p><p>He did not come back for you, had no regrets, was completely devoted to his Creed.</p><p>You tried not to think of him anymore, because he would not think of you as well. </p><p>(Or so you thought.)</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for reading!! I hope you liked this!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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